LA Lakers at San Antonio

[AboveLegit]

That was terrible, it's amazing how difficult it is for the Lakers to score against good defensive teams. They had no rhythm at all the entire game, Kobe was just jacking up shots, and Pau did not assert himself at all in the paint. The Spurs defense was amazing, their role players played excellent, and DeJuan Blair literally manhandled Gasol in the post.

[Real Deal]

Bryant lied when he said he was healthy and his hand wasn't bothering him anymore.

 

Gasol isn't aggressive enough to make up for Kobe chucking and shooting poorly.

 

Artest is a liability on offense, like he was last year (for the most part).

 

Fisher only shoots well in the playoffs.

 

Odom is Mr. Inconsistent, and has been since becoming a Laker.

 

Drew never passes out of the post and can't make a free throw to save his life, Blake was overrated and thought so highly of in the past because he always lit up Fisher (and who doesn't?), Brown is a one-dimensional player that can only spot up for jumpers. Walton, Ratliff, and Caracter are useless, Ebanks isn't even with us right now. I shouldn't even mention Joe Smith because Phil Jackson could probably drop 30 on him today.

 

Everyone was on Miami's ass for starting the season 9-8 (or whatever it was), said it wasn't going to work, yada yada. The Lakers are now playing like a bubble playoff team, completing the easiest schedule in the NBA as of December 24th, and they were left scratching and clawing their way into the top four seeds in the West.

 

Nah, it's not the referees. It's not complacency. It's the fact that our team doesn't know how to run the triangle effectively with Gasol in the low post, the fact that Blake can't run the triangle without Odom playing facilitator off the bench, the fact that Bryant can't bail this team out when they start to struggle (like he did plenty of times last season).

 

The Heat and Spurs, two of the best teams in the NBA, have had comfortable wins against us...so comfortable, it makes us look like a bottom four playoff team, and a potential first-round exit.

 

The regular season does matter. Once we start dropping games like this, and it continues until April, many will find out how bad it can get when our 50-win season can barely squeak us into the 6th or 7th seed, losing HCA for the ENTIRE playoff run, not just the NBA Finals.

 

Every single player and coach on this team needs to get their asses in gear. I watched the Eagles/Vikings game tonight, DVR'ed the Lakers game (looked at the box score at the half)...but already deleted it, the first Lakers game I'll miss in years. I'm tired of seeing them play, and having more excitement watching the Heat, who I absolutely cannot stand to see winning. That says a lot.

[AboveLegit]

Well only 3 teams have ever made the Finals 4 times straight, and the West has had 4 years to catch up to LA.. Now teams are finally understanding what it takes to beat these guys.

 

Kobe's hand may be bothering him, but man, he looked so frustrated out there. He got into George Hill's face for no reason (except to vent), he took ill advised shots, and reminded me a lot of the 2005 Bryant that we all loved to criticize. At the beginning of the game you could see that he wanted to win this game, and wanted to dominate. He started off 4-5 from the field, but then went 0-13 from the field after that if I remember correctly. Everything fell apart for the Lakers in that third quarter, and he didn't do anything positive to help out the team.

 

The team is just so dysfunctional right now, I know Bryant can't do everything himself, but he's gotta take better shots than that. It goes back to Doc Rivers' philosophy, trust your teammates. The offense is fine IMO, they just need to settle down and let Gasol work down low. The stats don't lie, when Kobe shoots under 20 or so shots a game, they have a winning record. Get Pau established early and control the momentum of the game. It's easier said than done, but really, what's the difference between this years squad and the championship team from a year ago? It's just a matter of finding their rhythm offensively.

 

And I couldn't believe Fisher actually walked all the way to the halfcourt line just to confront Richard Jefferson... What a frustrating night for the Lakers.

[The Artesticle]

Drew was the only one who played well tonight. When he gets back healthy, he'll give us another dimension, but he won't be enough if everyone keeps playing the way they are now.

 

Gasol wasn't much of a factor, again. And Kobe once again had a terrible game (I can't remember the last time he played well, to be honest) and kept chucking up shots and ruining the flow of the offense. If his injury is really bothering him that much than he needs to sit out and get surgery or something. We're not getting HCA as it already is, we might as well get him healthy for the playoffs. Because for all the talk that came out of Kobe's mouth, he played like [expletive] today. And if this is honestly the best he can give us we have no shot.

 

I thought that after back to back disappointments against the Bucks and the Heat that we would come out with fire and win tonight, but we ended up getting blown out. Again. Don't know what to make of it. We've made it to the Finals the last three years, there's no guarantee for a fourth trip in a row. Not even the Shaq/Kobe Lakers could pull that off. Hopefully this team puts it together though, way too much talent for them to be playing like this.

[The Regime]

I didn't watch the game but caught the highlights on ESPN, we suck. The way we're playing we might lose to the Hornets tomorrow night by 15+ points and tie a franchise record.

[Finch23]

Uncharacteristic night for Kobe, but I give a lot of credit to George Hill and Manu who both played about as good of defense on Kobe as you can. It's nit a coincidence that in the three game Hill has Bern out the Spurs gave up over 100 ppg. With him it's around 85ish. Hills perimeter defense was spectacular and the best I have seen since #12 retired.

 

If someone would have told me Dunxan shot 1-7 and had only 4 rebounds I would have said how much did we lose by? I'm still shocked that Blair was so productive, on paper Blair is the weakest link matched up against the giant Lakers. While I have thought over the past three years the Spurs need to match the Lakers size, it was the Spurs speed and youth that made the difference. Blair was very physical with Gasol and it paid off. This strategy won't always work but unlike years past the Spurs Noe have options. They might not be as big as LA but they have a nice combination of size, and speed.

 

Gary Neal...... Where do the Spurs find these guys lol? This kid has ice in his veins! Can't wait till Anderson gets back, he was playing great before his injury!

[ballorama]

Wow. Duncan had TWO freaking points and the Spurs won by 15.. man.. this Spurs team looks dangerous. Best I've seen them yet.. come playoff time there gonna have a rested Tim Duncan. I'm wooried.